Most recently, Atomic Fiction deployed Avere FXT Edge filers in front of existing NAS arrays to quickly solve pipeline performance issues impacting critical project timelines for Sony Picture Entertainment's photoreal film The Walk. Atomic Fiction earned three Visual Effects Society nominations for its work as the primary vendor on the film, which earned the praise of critics who proclaimed the movie a “visual spectacle”. The studio was responsible for the movie’s digital recreation of 1974 New York City – a project that required a team of 120 artists to develop approximately 250 shots for nearly 40 minutes of film and which resulted in a workload that pushed the limits of the studio’s existing storage infrastructure. Although plans were already in place to expand Atomic Fiction’s storage infrastructure, pressing deadlines for The Walk dictated a more expeditious solution than the purchase of a traditional array. The studio chose to install Avere FXT Edge filers in front of its existing NAS array to eliminate latency to and from on-premises storage and to instantly accelerate performance without disrupting crunch-time work. The deployment includes clustered Avere FXT Edge filers in Atomic Fiction’s Oakland and Montreal studios front-end a 90TB+ NAS footprint to deliver high-speed data throughput to on-premises rendering processes and fast access to some 155 artist desktops. The result was an immediate 3-5X performance boost, which reduced response times to artist workstations from upwards of 30 seconds down to milliseconds.
“Filmmakers come to Atomic Fiction because of our ability to combine VFX artistry and a smooth production process that delivers top-notch, timely results, ” said Marc Sadeghi, president of Visual Effects at Atomic Fiction. “Avere is an important element in that equation, allowing us to deliver more performance on less infrastructure. By combining a collaborative approach to working with filmmakers , the creativity of passionate artists and the power of technology, we’re able to overcome the challenges inherent to VFX production.”
“In 2015, every single one of the top 20 grossing global blockbusters used special effects made possible by Avere,” said Ron Bianchini, president and CEO at Avere Systems. “Our stellar track record in the visual effects industry is a testament to our commitment to innovate as we support leading VFX studios like Atomic Fiction.”
